This new breath test for biomarkers of radiation exposure will be evaluated in patients receiving radiation as part of their normal scheduled treatment. Five medical centers will participate in the study, including Christiana Health Care System in Delaware, MD; Anderson Medical Center in Orlando, Florida; New York University Langone Medical Center; Seattle Swedish Cancer Institute; and the Veterans Administration Medical Center at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA). In addition, the Applied Physics Laboratory at Johns Hopkins University will evaluate breath testing in animals, the LECO Corporation in St. Joseph, Michigan will provide advanced instruments to analyze the breath samples, and American Westech, Inc, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania will provide analytical and consultative services.

The project's long-term goal is to develop a point-of-care breathalyzer that could be used to rapidly screen large numbers of people for radiation exposure, and to determine the severity of the dose received in order to guide their medical care.

Source: New Jersey Institute of Technology